wake.eat.sleep

In case you missed it: Part 1 and Part 2.

The biggest reason that I wanted to return to Kyoto was for Hagashiyama Hanatouro.

The temples are beautiful during the day, but there is also a beauty in things that are ephemeral or seasonal in nature. The temple lighting is only held twice a year (once in the spring and once in the fall) and only for 9 days. I wanted another chance to re-live the experience, and as a wannabe photographer or chronicler, another chance to capture it using much better equipment. For those of you that were too lazy to click on the link above, this limited event is a chance to see the various historic Kyoto temples at night. Many temples take an extra step and really go out of their way to do more than just simple lighting.

Here's the map for a better idea of the route. The plan was to start at Shorenin and try to make it to Kiyomizu before things ended at 9:30.

Bamboo trees at night. It would have been a bigger shock if I didn't have any pictures of bamboo trees.

I have video of this somewhere too, but basically they placed a series of lights that would alternate between lighting up and gradually dimming and fading to black. Very serene. (But very challenging to really capture as a hobbyist photographer!)

There were also Ikebana being exhibited around the temple walking route.

Here's an overview map of one of the larger temples.

Still very fresh on the minds of everyone, are the people still trying to recover from the Tōhoku earthquake. Here they set up a message board to post and pass along well wishes and messages to people in the area.

I posted a short message too. Please excuse my shaky hiragana!

These were fun to see. I wondered if these were original designs, or inspired by stories or folk lore. We'll never know, since I was too lazy to ask!

Did I tell you? A lot of people come to this event.

A lot.

It is one of my goals to be able to write out semi-intelligent sentences in kanji, and write up a prayer on board at a temple.

Here's my obligatory photo of Kiyomizu-dera.

It was tricky getting a shot I was happy with, despite the fact that I brought a tripod. There were a lot of people, and it was starting to drizzle lightly. I had my lens hood on, but sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. I snapped off as many as I could and then moved on in life.

And as quickly as it began, my night was over.

I do have some video of a special lighting show that was conducted against the side of one of the temples. The wait was long, but it was fun to watch. I'll eventually edit this post once I upload it.

Next, I head west for Nagasaki.

-- wake.eat.sleep

In case you missed it, Part 1 is here.

I was on a bit of a tighter schedule than the last time I was in Kyoto, so instead of heading above ground to see the scenic part of the station, such as this:

I stayed underground to head to the subway, and found this hostage situation taking place:

Just kidding! They're kids on a school trip surrounded by their chaperons...I think!

After quickly checking into the hotel, it was off to try to sneak in a trip to Arashiyama. There was a bus route way to get there, and a train route way of getting there, and after the bus took longer to show up than I was hoping, I called an audible to take the train instead.

There is no way that I can see this name, and not think of Hina:

Anyway, there's no way to be unsure if you've made it or not, Arashiyama happened to be the end of the line:

There was a lot of things to see. Things like old bridges...

...stairs that lead up the mountainside...

...my first peek at sakura for the season...

But really, I wanted to see the forest and the trees...the bamboo trees!

I thought they were majestically fantastic!

Of course, here's an obligatory picture of me.

I could have asked some non-Western tourists to take my picture, but I flaked out and asked a European instead. More on Europeans shortly.

Did I tell you that I like pictures of stairs?

And rivers?

I don't know who she is, but I liked the conceptual composition of this shot.

Nifty looking boats.

Oh, I mentioned something about Europeans. So as I was wandering on my way back, some Europeans stopped to ask me if I knew where the monkeys were. Monkeys? Didn't you follow a map, I wondered? They insisted they did, and still couldn't find them. One fellow asked if I would help them look for the monkeys, and was saddened when I didn't seem interested. I tried to point them in the right direction and left. (Alert folks will remember that I quickly summarized this story here.)

Here's the map showing the route that you would have to take to get to the monkeys. Yikes. What was I thinking? Once I paid, I was all in to get to the top before the park closed.

At least they had these fun little quizzes going on along the route:

(They had the same quizzes in Japanese on different sign boards)

If you stayed inside, it felt like you were the exhibit and the monkeys were free.

As fun as that was, the sun was starting to set, so I quickly made my way back. One big thing that I was really looking forward to would start right around sundown, and I didn't want to miss a thing.

More in Part 3.

-- wake.eat.sleep.

A couple of quick notes here on how I'm counting the days:

Day 0 - Travel Day

Day 1 - First Day of Arrival

Day 2 - Travel to Kyoto

I also did a quick summary of that day.

This was a pretty early morning for me. In order to maximize my half-day in Kyoto, I would need to leave fairly early from Tokyo. And to leave fairly early meant getting my mass on! I did try to contact some friends from the last church I was at from the previous trips, but I never heard back. That gave me a great opportunity to meet a new community. There aren't a lot of English language masses, but I found one with a music ministry in Roppongi. Their website and Facebook page gave me a good idea of what to expect. Unfortunately, Roppongi isn't the most accessible area if you're trying to maximize your JR pass, but it all worked out. My idea of using a coin locker to hold my travel gear worked out, as my carry-on sized bag fit into a medium sized coin locker with minimal issues.

It was fun to meet and sing with a different choir. It was a decent sized group and we were backed by an electric guitar for this mass. (Later masses were bigger, and used the piano/organ). Many foreigners live in the area, and the congregation reflected this fact. They were also aware of the transient nature of their parish, so every mass always asked newcomers to identify themselves, and for people whose stay were ending to let the community know, so that we could wish them well on their next journey.

Then, I was off! I headed to Shinagawa to get my JR Pass, and they also set up my ticket to Kyoto. The presumption was that I would have trouble with a ticket written in Japanese, so the agent wrote out what my ticket meant. Even without the translation, knowing Hiragana, and the large number of signs around the station, makes it a little less necessary.

I wish train stations here in Chicago could eventually adopt this system, numbering the train cars, and making the trains stop in the same stops. Here's a picture of what it looks like for Shinkansens, but it's also done for regular commuter trains as well.

It was a pretty quiet and uneventful trip, and before I knew it, I was in Kyoto!

A little bit more on Kyoto to come...

-- wake.eat.sleep

I had a really slow start to the trip. I took a lot longer this time to pack, trying to minimize the amount I was bringing using my only trusty Timbuk2 Copilot bag, a somewhat flexible carry-on sized bag. Once I got there, I was of course greeted with a 5 hour delay. For my inconvenience, we were all given vouchers to use to have some free lunch. (I used mine to try Tortas Frontera for the first time!) I did have some logistical concerns, but after a long wait, I was finally on my way!

Usually for longer plane rides, I would like to have some entertainment options outside of what might be available on the collection of TV shows and movies that are on the plane. I've had some pretty decent success with catching some subtitled Japanese movies I wouldn't have had the chance to, and I had success again on this flight. I took the chance not to take my PSP on this trip or any supplemental book, and it wasn't needed at all. I had my tablet with me and had a large collection of anime to watch, which I never had to take advantage of.

I can't remember if I watched it on the way there, or on the way back, but I got to watch Tokyo Kazoku (Tokyo Family). Being a fan of "slice of life" type of stories, I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's a trailer if you want to get a feel for the movie. (Though, don't watch it if you want to be completely surprised by the story.) It was filmed pretty recently, and even made mention to the events of March 2011.

In terms of logistics, I found out via email that the internet hotspot that I was picking up from the airport was going to be waiting for me at a late night counter that stays open until the last flight arrives. Additionally, since the Shinkansen and even some local trains were probably off service by then, American Airlines had arranged for a shuttle to take people into Tokyo (or a hotel in Narita). I believe they only did two stops: one at Tokyo Station and one at Shinjuku Station. Once I finally arrived, it was a quick hop into the last JR Yamanote Outer Loop train bound for Ikebukuro Station and my previous base of operations from Japan Trip v.2, Ikebukuro. I got a pretty cheap place to stay that night, and getting there after a long walk (maybe 10-15 minutes) and a longer than expected trip pretty much eliminated all of the things that I thought I'd be able to do by getting into the Tokyo by about 7 pm. (For example, heading out to Shibuya to see Hachikō and to people watch at the crossing.)

However, getting into your room at approximately 1, 1:30 am will change that those plans into ones of sleep. Especially since tomorrow was an early morning checkout and travel outside of Tokyo and a return to Kyōto!

-- wake.eat.sleep

My first trip to Japan was somewhat hastily planned in a short period of time, and my second trip to Japan was hastily planned after I had to cancel/reschedule it after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, and this trip kept up with that tradition. 

I did a somewhat thorough job of blogging my experience the first time, but a very sparse job the second time.

And now, 80 days after I started the trip, it's time to try documenting my 18 day trip. For those of you that are curious, this will be the first of about eighteen posts on my 2013 trip or Japan Trip v.3.

My very first trip, there were very specific things I wanted to try to see, visit and do:

- Tokyo (Shinjuku, Akihabara, Shibuya, Ginza, Roppongi, etc.)

- Kyoto

- Osaka

- Hiroshima

- Onsen / Ryokan

- Shinkansen

- Studio Ghibli Museum

- Sakura

- Sushi Class

- Tokyo Anime Fair

My second trip, I wanted to at least see Nagasaki. But once my trip was cancelled and rescheduled, I decided to defer that entire itinerary.

Thus, for this trip, I finally went to revisit my original second trip itinerary:

- Tokyo

- Nagasaki

- Outdoor onsen

- Studio Ghibli Museum

- Tokyo Anime Fair

- Anime Contents Expo

- Food-related class (more on this later)

Once I started finalizing dates, the following options opened up:

- Kyoto (specifically to see Higashiyama Hanatouro again!)

- An attempt to watch a band that I know in a live concert setting

For my outdoor onsen selection, I choose Takayama (which would have a fantastic side effect / coincidence that I would discover later)

Of course, despite three trips, there's still more of the country I want to see: Hokkaido and Okinawa. Those will likely have to wait for a fourth trip. 

Please enjoy this retroactive look back at the longest travel vacation I've taken to date.

どうぞよろしくお願いします! 

-- wake.eat.sleep

Tonight, the Heat play the Pacers in a Game 7, that most casual fans didn't expect, and many NBA experts weren't expecting to reach 7 games (most were predicting the series to end by Game 6.)

Regardless of whether or not the Heat ultimately advance, it's very tough to repeat as champions.

As defending champions, it seems that you expend an additional amount of energy playing every team, even teams that have little to play for late in the season. In the playoffs, the intensity and competition ratchets up a lot, and it's easy to forget that it wasn't quite that easy for the Bulls the first time they repeated as champs.

It should be a fun game tonight. We'll see if the King takes a step towards further legitimizing his ascendance, or if those plans will need to be put on hold again.

-- wake.eat.sleep

We interrupt my soon to come, day by day summary of my trip to do some quick NBA Playoff predictions.

Western Conference

#1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #8 Houston Rockets

The final game of the regular season where the Rockets lost to the Lakers set up this intriguing on paper "vengeance game". James Harden returns to face the team that traded him away rather than attempt to even keep him for an additional year.

I expect a lot of highlights here, but barring any major surprises or injuries the Thunder will move on.

Thunder in 6.

#2 San Antonio Spurs vs #7 Los Angeles Lakers

Another fun story line if you believe the rumors that San Antonio was deliberately avoiding the 1st seed, so that they could avoid the Lakers who were expected to only squeak into the playoffs as the 8th seed. Karma is a b*tch, some say.

The Spurs are better coached, and the Lakers have one too many question marks, and no Kobe Bryant to shoot them to a win. As much as I'd love to see a 7 game Laker series upset, we're probably not going to see that.

Spurs in 6.

#3 Denver Nuggets vs #6 Golden State Warriors

Much like all of the Western Conference series, this is going to be a fun matchup, despite some tough injuries on the Denver side. 

Despite the pace slowing down in the playoffs, I still expect this series to have a lot of 111-103 games. The Warriors have had a nice season, but it's coming to an end.

Denver in 6.

#4 Los Angeles Clippers vs #5 Memphis Grizzlies

This is going to be a very compelling match up. I'm especially excited to see CP3 against Tony Allen, and to see which versions of Zach Randolph and Blake Griffin show up. It wouldn't surprise me if the series ended quickly, but it will be no shock to see this series go the distance. 

It shocks me that Vinny Del Negro is still coaching.

Clippers in 7.

Eastern Conference

#1 Miami Heat vs #8 Milwaukee Bucks

LeBron James is the best player in the game. He happens to play for one of the better coaches in the league, and the system and the team is well constructed around him. The Bucks are coached by their interim coach and might look good only on paper.

This is not going to be a pretty series at all. (For Bucks fans that is.)

Heat in 5.

#2 New York Knicks vs #7 Boston Celtics

It would be nice if the Celtics could ride the emotion of the last week to turn back that clock one more time and give the Knicks a tough series. It would be nice, but the Knicks with Anthony and Smith leading the charge on offense, they'll have enough to hold off this Celtics team.

Knicks in 6.

#3 Indiana Pacers vs #6 Atlanta Hawks

If their last two games were any evidence, this was the matchup that the Hawks wanted. Be careful of what you wish for. The Hawks have been fairly erratic this year. The Pacers have been fairly consistent, and their playing style is well suited for the playoffs. With the emergence of Paul George and with a nice healthy year from David West, I expect this to be the series to skip in the first round.

Pacers in 5.

#4 Brooklyn Nets vs #5 Chicago Bulls

Arguably, this could be a skippable series as well. The Nets have been playing a lot better since the All-Star break. The Bulls have been finding their way to doctor for most of the season. It looks like Noah will be not be at 100% anytime soon. We'll find out today whether or not DRose will play, but I assume that if he doesn't play today, he will not suit up for the playoffs. With this limited roster, will the Bulls have a chance? 

This is another series that will not seem pretty to anyone other than fans of both teams, but the Bulls have just enough coaching and chemistry to pull off the series win.

Bulls in 6.

Wow, only about 4 days left, and I didn't really factor in Holy Week stuff. Well, I did, and I didn't. 

Last night was Holy Thursday, and given my usual set up, it was a nice change of pace to see feet being washed (something I would only get to see if I sang in church, as opposed to the alternate locations). 

Tonight will be Good Friday evening service. Tomorrow, I'll be sneaking in a shift of volunteering with Second Harvest. That should leave a bit of time for more souvenir hunting before Easter Vigil service. Saturday also marks the end of my JR pass, so in both a good and bad way, it will be nice not to have to rely on it anymore. 

Sunday will be Easter mass (maybe even more than one), and then the Anime Contents Expo. 

Monday will be my trip to Studio Ghibli, and a long overdue return to the ramen museum (though it might make more sense to do this on Saturday). 

Tuesday should leave a little time to pack and very likely lug around three bags back to the airport. 

Whew. 

-- wake.eat.sleep

I've realized that despite having more Internet access on this trip, I haven't been uploading pictures or updating the blog as frequently. But then again, maybe I'm just vacationing properly. Well, we're 2/3rds of the way through, with the likelihood that the remaining 1/3rd will be done in the blink of an eye. 

So, here's a rundown of where I've been, since. 

I do owe a post on the fun side trip to Higashiosaka, so I hope to sneak that in these next couple of days. 

On my return to Tokyo and Shinjuku, I took the opportunity to visit a number of bars in Golden Gai. One was a pretty cool, but tiny multi-story bar. The other, I happened to stay at for more than 3 drinks. That bar was a lot of fun. 

On Saturday, I got to volunteer with Second Harvest for one shift, then tagged along to help with their Saturday morning soup kitchen. Afterwards, with the sakura in bloom, I wandered around Ueno Park, and the surrounding area with one of the local volunteers. 

Sunday was a day full of nervous anticipation. I was able to sneak morning mass in, then it was off to Tokyo Big Site, for the Tokyo Animation Fair. With a competing event taking place the week after, the fair itself seemed to be lacking from my first visit. 

However, if that was a little bit of a downer, the event set up by the Meet The New Japan campaign was not. I, and about 8 other lucky visitors got to spend some time hanging out, training and working with seiyuu (Japanese voice actors). It surpassed my expectations, and I'm still thinking about it! 

Monday was my long train trip, all the way to the city of Takayama in the Gifu Prefecture. As an added bonus, due to the popularity of Hyouka, there were a lot of bonus things that made it fantastic for myself (and other Hyouka fans that I spotted throughout the trip). Takayama also meant that I got to enjoy some onsen (especially outdoor onsen!). And of course no trip out here would be complete if I didn't make sure to have some Takayama noodles and some Hida beef (or in my case, both!). A trip out to the Hida Folk Village was fun, but perhaps slightly creepy, since I was one of the last people there for the day and it was getting quiet...too quiet! 

Now, it's back to Tokyo, for mostly Tokyo based activities and Holy Week and Easter. 

It's another hour before I get to Nagoya. More to follow. Maybe. 

-- wake.eat.sleep

Although this trip overall is mostly an opportunity to revisit my original itinerary from 2011, which meant to visit completely new places. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to return to Kyoto as my travel coincided with the last night of Hanatouro.

I left Ikebukuro early, threw my luggage in a coin locker, and snuck in a Sunday morning mass with a church in Ginza. It will surprise no one that once again, Filipinos made the majority of the 8 am choir. Once mass was over, it was a quick trip to grab my stuff out of the coin locker and the belated exchange to get my 14-day JR Pass.

It was an uneventful trip out to Kyoto complete with a eki-ben!

Getting to Kyoto early, meant that I finally had the opportunity to visit Arashiyama. It was great to finally see the bamboo forest up close. With the sun starting to set, it was just about time to head back to make it back in time for the beginning of Hanatouro. That is, until I ran into a group of foreigners who asked me about finding the monkeys. And I had no interest in the monkeys, and I couldn't quite help them. But after they left, I realized they were looking on the wrong side of the river. Sure enough, when I crossed back I easily found the signs for them.

What I didn't realize, is that to see the monkeys, it's a bit of a little* climb up the mountain. When I got to the admission gate, I got a friendly reminder from the attendant that I had less than 30 minutes to get there before the monkeys went away for the night. And so, approximately 20 tiring power hiked minutes later, I was at the summit, surrounded by uncaged monkeys that you are repeated to never look in the eyes. 

(* And by little, I assume that a 160 meter vertical climb is relatively little.)

It was fun to see fairly chilled out monkeys wandering around, and to have a nice view back into Kyoto. It was impressive for the parents who brought their kids, since the hike isn't terribly easy. That being said, let's never do that again.

I'll talk about Hanatouro possibly in a follow up post.

Please enjoy the photos from Kyoto in the meantime!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wake-eat-sleep/sets/72157633016779177/

-- wake.eat.sleep